Leveling Jacks

The tool provided by Camp Inn to lower/raise the leveling jacks is great for getting the jacks down to the ground but once there, I have found it difficult to use it to crank up the trailer for leveling and have always been a little concerned if I had to completely raise the tire off the ground to change it.

Last year at the NW gathering, Julia had a long handled ratcheting socket wrench that she uses. I have been trying to find one but could only find a torque wrench that I thought was a bit of overkill.

I carry a set of Stanley tools in the car. Yesterday, when I was at the camper, I decided to try the regular ratcheting socket wrench included in the Stanley tools. I used the Camp Inn tool to lower the leveling jacks and then used the socket wrench to raise the tire even further. Works great.

 

Love the PVC idea. I will have to look into that. Thanks

 

I currently use an old 8# barbell to hold down the brake pedal during brake light testing. The PVC pipe would be lighter and sounds like it works as well. On the other hand, I use the 8# barbell as a weight for the the northern breeze on concrete.

 

Don't forget the cordless screw gun with a socket extension and socket for running the jacks up and down. That is the easiest one yet.

Cary

 

Just make sure the screw gun has sufficient torque to handle the load. Light duty ones don't cut it.

 

ANy specify brand and model of screw gun?

 

Ken,


Hmmm, I imagine that is a touchy subject. Kind of like asking people if they are a Ford man or a Chevy man.

But, a short time ago we did a large project determining what brand and size screw gun would be the best to use in a production environment. Our collection of 14.4V DeWalts we were using were starting to get pretty dated. Months of research and testing of sample guns on the floor landing a big winner for us. We went with Bosch 18v LiOn units. Half the weight and twice the power of the old DeWalts. Plus the LiOn batteries work way better in a day to day production setting then do the old NiCads. So, we sent the old DeWalts home with the employees as gifts and bought all new Boschs. Huge improvement!

Cary

 

Cary,
Great idea.
I would assume that Lithium-ion is important, plus compare the torque rating of any others I look at.
Thanks again!
Ken

 

Best drill ever: The Makiti LCT200W Lithium-ion.
You can get the two drill (drill and impact driver) combo for around $250. The impact driver will set 8" lags into solid wood all day long. Very light too.

 

I have the Makita drill that Evan shows above. Works like a champ. Great torque, lifts the trailer even when the battery is just about dead. Fast recharge too. I've just been using it at home to lift the trailer onto the wheel dollies so I can jokey it around in my storage shed. It will be going camping with me from now on, why crank by hand when you have a tool that makes it effortless.

 

The Makita ranked very high in our evaluation also, in the top four. There are some really good prices on these out there too. For a home shop this might be about one of the best. The other two in the top four for us where the Milwaukee (very close to the Bosch in our eval) and the Ryobi.

The Ryobi I believe is the best performance for the money available. Because we were looking for best total performance in a production environment drove us to the Bosch.

 

I have used the Ryobi with the 18 Volt Lithium Battery and it does a very good job. I purchased a kit consiting of a drill, an impact driver and one battery for less than $200. There is a kit available with two batteries but it comes in at around $300. Since you can only use 1 tool at a time I figured I would save the extra $100. This combo allows me to extend the leveling jack to a wheel off the ground condition in about 10 seconds.

 

The drill idea looks good but what do you get to attach it to the leveling jack (a little dull on tools)? In other words what do you buy besides the drill?

 

That's what I was wondering. I have the drill, but nothing else...

 

Anyone know the size of the bolt on the scissor jack?

 

The 'socket' I used for my test was marked 3/4.

 

I'm with you George.

 

I think we are talking about some of the more petite ladies that camp on their own. A "a 66 yr old lazy fat man" still has more torque.